Sunday, March 30, 2014

In 1612, in the English city of Lancaster, 12 women were convicted of witchcraft, with 10 of them being punished by hanging. In a retrial held in a shopping center, they have much more recently received "not guilty" verdicts.

Friday, March 28, 2014

The production team of the Netflix show House Of Cards, unsatisfied with the state's tax exemptions, said that they might move to another state. In response, the Maryland House of Delegates has approved a budget bill that includes a provision which requires the state to use eminent domain to take the film company's property.

Since the Maryland government and the entertainment industry are both for the most part on the left, I'm not sure whom to root against. In any event, read the story at Fox News and The Washington Post.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who is a Kuwaiti imam and a son-in-law of the late Osama bin Laden, has been convicted in New York of conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to provide support to al-Qaida and providing support to al-Qaida. He is said to have acted as the terrorist group's "propaganda minister", using his position to incite others to join the group's cause.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

It's officially spring, but winter still refuses to leave. Today's snowfall has been relatively light, as the snow hitting the roads has been melting on contact. Just one picture this time, of some empty trash cans and recycle containers next to a neighborhood street.

Monday, March 24, 2014

According to a documentary released in the U.K., British hospitals disposed of dead babies, both aborted and miscarried, by incinerating them. In some cases, the bodies were used to generate heat for the hospital.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Under a set of guidelines from The Law Society, solicitors (a type of British lawyer) will be able to write wills that comply with Islamic Sharia law. From The Telegraph:

Under ground-breaking guidance, produced by The Law Society, High Street solicitors will be able to write Islamic wills that deny women an equal share of inheritances and exclude unbelievers altogether.

The documents, which would be recognised by Britain’s courts, will also prevent children born out of wedlock - and even those who have been adopted - from being counted as legitimate heirs.

Anyone married in a church, or in a civil ceremony, could be excluded from succession under Sharia principles, which recognise only Muslim weddings for inheritance purposes.

Most rock and roll songs involve singing, but every once in a while, a rocker will put out an instrumental. One of the earliest is Duane Eddy's version of Peter Gunn, written by Henry Mancini for the TV show of the same name. Eddy plays guitar, but the real star of this version would have to be sax player Steve Armstrong.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Fred Phelps, the founder and leader of the controversial (to say the least) Westboro Baptist Church, whose members have become notorious for protesting at funerals, and for carrying signs saying "God hates fags", died earlier today from natural causes. Whether anyone plans to protest his funeral is not yet known.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

According to an article in Cracked co-written by a naval aviator, flying a fighter jet is "way crazier" than what you see in the movie Top Gun.

Top Gun came out in 1986, and (for reasons that I should probably question them about) my parents thought it was a perfectly acceptable movie to show a 4-year-old. While I failed to grasp much of the plot and the homoerotic overtones, I did know that flying a thundering war bird powered by fire was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. Before I was even able to tie my shoes, I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up.

That's how I wound up spending most of the last decade training and flying the F/A-18 Super Hornet

And while I never expected things to be exactly like Top Gun (hostile MiGs are decidedly scarce these days), there are quite a few things that Tom Cruise never told me, like ...

Monday, March 17, 2014

According to cosmologists, the type of scientists who study the origin of the universe, one early stage of the Big Bang was a brief period of cosmic inflation, during which universe expanded faster than the speed of light. While Einstein's theory of relativity posits that no material object can move through space at speeds greater than that of light, the inflation was the growth of space itself, and thus not subject to this speed limit. As reported in Space(dot)com, direct evidence of cosmic inflation has not been found, until a recent set of observations taken from Antarctica detected polarizations called "B-modes" in the cosmic microwave background radiation. The "B-modes" are said to be the result of gravitational waves that were in turn caused by inflation. To learn more, read the full story and watch the video, both from Space(dot)com.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal), in an interview with 60 Minutes, said that during a protest outside her house, she looked out her window to see a drone "facing" her. Apparently as a result of this incident, she is in favor of regulating these devices. In the interview, she asked:

“When is a drone picture a benefit to society? When does it become stalking? When does it invade privacy? How close to a home can a drone go?” Feinstein said, listing questions she would like to see answered in the complex regulation process.

I would say that these concerns are valid, both for privately owned drones and for those used by the government. Since the Senator desires some regulations, I think I can offer one. If a drone enters private property with neither the permission of the owner nor a warrant, then subject to local laws, it should be made available for target practice. No matter what you think, read the full story at Politico.

I thought that Mother Nature and/or Old Man Winter might be done with us residents of Maryland, but I was wrong. Instead, for the first time that I can remember since my childhood in western New York, I'm having a white St. Patrick's Day. Top o' the snowpile to you!

Sunday, March 16, 2014

In a referendum held earlier today in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, over 90% of the voters indicated that they wanted the region to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. Crimea has an ethic Russian majority and was part of Russia until 1954, when Russia and Ukraine were each part of the Soviet Union.

The referendum was supported by the Russian government, but the United States has asserted that it violates international law and was done under duress from a Russian invasion. There are also reports of ethnic Ukrainians in Crimea boycotting the vote.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Diane Sori, whose writings are carried by several conservative sites, has written an op-ed about the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.

As the search area now encompasses the Gulf of Thailand, the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, the Andaman Sea, and the Indian Ocean...the game of who knows what...who's hiding what...and why was it done (if indeed the plane was hijacked) continues on. But in play are 239 human lives...lives I believe are still with us and will be used as bargaining chips at some later time....minus the three NOT quite 'kosher' passengers two of whom were Iranians with stolen passports and one-way tickets, and a Chinese Uighur muslim man with flight simulation training.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Unmanned aircraft known as drones have become notorious for such things as launching missiles at enemy combatants in Afghanistan, but a former soldier has found a very different use for them. As reported in Mail Online:

Ex-soldier Bill Clary who owns drone business ‘Got Aerials’ piloted the unmanned aircraft over the Utah desert to discover the rock carvings on an inaccessible ledge on a high canyon wall.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Just after 9:30 this morning, a gas leak caused an explosion in the Harlem area of New York City, which led to a fire and the eventual collapse of two buildings. Two people have been reported killed and at least 22 others hurt.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 was reportedly detected by military radar several hundred miles west of where it was supposed to be flying. The flight left Kuala Lumpur airport and was traveling in a northeasterly direction over the western part of the South China Sea toward the south end of Vietnam, when it disappeared from civilian radar. According to a Malaysian Air Force general, the plane was detected over the Malacca Strait, which separates the west coast of mainland Malaysia from the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

In Part 1, I showed you some of the buildings in Washington's Birthplace National Monument, along with the obelisk at its entrance. Now in Part 2, I introduce you to some of the inhabitants, starting with this ox. In the background to the right, partially obscured by fence posts, are two sheep.

Unlike the oxen, the sheep are allowed to wander around in the same space as human visitors. Here are a few of them near some trees.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

George Washington, the first president (under the Constitution) of the United States, was born at Pope's Creek Plantation, also known as Wakefield, in Colonial Beach, Virginia. The plantation is now a National Monument, and is adjacent to its namesake body of water, which connects to the south side of the Potomac. These are some pictures from my recent visit. The entrance features a smaller version of the Washington Monument.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

If this isn't insane and idiotic, I don't know what is. From The Daily Caller, here are some new rules of engagement for our border patrol:

Top administration officials have directed 21,000 border patrol officers to retreat whenever illegal immigrants throw rocks at them, and to avoid getting in front of foreign drug-smugglers’ vehicles as they head north with their drug cargoes.

“Agents shall not discharge firearms in response to thrown or hurled projectiles… agents should obtain a tactical advantage in these situations, such as seeking cover or distancing themselves,” said the instructions, issued Mar. 7, under the signature of Michael Fisher, chief of U.S. Border Patrol.

In other words, the people charged with protecting our borders have been instructed to use run-and-hide tactics when dealing with criminal invaders who physically assault them, and to just let drug smugglers go on their merry way. Our agents are not even allowed to draw their guns while being passed by the smugglers' vehicles. Read the full story.

Malaysian Airlines Flight HM370, carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, went missing over the South China Sea about two hours after taking off. No signs of the plane's location or possible crash site have been found, other than two oil slicks spotted by Vietnamese air force pilots. The passengers included over 150 Chinese and 4 Americans.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

The Maryland House of Delegates is considering a bill that would "link" the state's gun registry and criminal registry, giving police the ability to determine which firearms owners are convicted felons and confiscate their guns. According to one estimation, about 10% of Maryland gun owners, amounting to about 110,000 people, would be affected. This begs the question: How did the background checks on all these people, presumably done to see if they have nothing disqualifying them from gun ownership, fail to uncover their felony convictions in the first place?

Read the story at Russia Today. That's right, a Russian website is the source for this story about Maryland, albeit one mentioning Associated Press as their source.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Ten-year-old Jamir Wallace was born without arms, that hasn't stopped him from becoming a musician. The fifth grader from Phillipsburg, New Jersey, inspired by his sister playing piano, took up the trumpet and now plays in his school's musical ensemble. Read the story at Life News and watch the video.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Well, I think it's Round 4 of the Polar Vortex, but I concede that the number of rounds could be higher. Here are some pictures of the latest snowfall, which occurred from late this past Sunday night to Monday afternoon. The first shows a slim wooden deck jutting out into the neighborhood lake, still covered by yesterday's snow.

In this view across the lake, the grate toward the right is above the lake's outlet. The closer horizontal embankment is a street, while the farther one supports a railroad. The lake drains through tunnels in both.

My homeowner's association dues at work. These men are plowing and salting the paved walkway that runs roughly parallel to road, between it and the lake.

Another section of the walkway, away from the road, remains unplowed. However, the two parallel grooves in the snow indicate that someone has pulled a two-wheeled vehicle down the walkway. I was thinking that the grooves could have been made by bicycle tires, but their paths extend at a constant distance from each other, indicating that they would have to be made by two wheels connected by an axle. Has one of my neighbors been riding a chariot?

Monday, March 3, 2014

Six people from Somalia were captured in the Mexican state of Chiapas, claiming that they had been abandoned by human traffickers whom they had paid to help sneak them into the United States. Chiapas is located at the southern end of Mexico, borders the neighboring country of Guatemala, and is home to a small community of several hundred Muslims.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Today is Texas Independence Day. On March 2, 1836 Texas declared independence from Mexico, after which it existed as a country unto itself before joining the United States. Here are a few related items:

About Me

I've been a contributor to the rightwing blog AndRightlySo, but now I've also got my own. My interests include travel, hiking, music (I play several instruments.), and the NY Yankees. Born in NY state, raised in NY and Virginia (including a degree from Virginia Tech), before moving to Maryland.